Baseball gloves



R. N. LATINA BASEBALL GLOVES May 30, 1967 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed July 6,1965 a; K r4 W m x L rm F N4 I F y 0 1967 R. N. LATINA 3,321,771

BASEBALL GLOVES Filed July 6, 1965 2 She ets -Sheet 2 76 fit/W UnitedStates Patent 3,321,771 BASEBALL GLGVIES Roland N. Latina, Eeilieville,111., assignor to Rawlings Sporting Goods Company, St. Louis, Mo., acomma tion of Missouri Filled .Iuiy 6, 1965, Ser. No. 469,735 9filaiins. (Cl. 2-19) The present invention relates to baseball gloves ormitts, and more particularly to a new web or backstop for a baseballglove.

In most baseball gloves a web or backstop is provided between the thumband forefinger sections. The purpose of the backstop is to receive theinitial impact energy from catching a ball, and then transfer thisenergy through various structural connections into the glove body.

Many backstop constructions and lacing arrangements have been suggestedto efficiently transfer the impact energy into the glove body, but inmost cases the energy is dissipated at the expense of highly stressingportions of the glove or mitt. For example, solid webs have beendesigned with special lacing to transmit impact energy into the glove asstresses in a plurality of zones. In other arrangements a network oflacings has been provided to avoid the necessity of using eyelets tostrengthen lacing aperture along the margins of the thumb and forefingersections of the glove. Still other constructions utilize severalindependent, spaced Webs to form the backstop for distributing stressesthrough the glove or mitt body.

The present invention overcomes the impact energy dissipation problem ofprior glove constructions in a unique manner, and it will be understoodthat the invention is applicable to gloves and mitts, and that forconvenience reference will be made to gloves. The web or backstopappertaining to the invention has a ball impact Zone defined by a basketweave construction that provides a ball catching area with thecapability to absorb a substantial portion of the impact energy beforeit can be transmitted into the lacings. Moreover, the basket weaveconstruction provides the backstop with a gripping action which aids incatching a ball, yet prevents wedging of the ball in the backstop. Thebasket weave backstop is secure to the glove along the margins of thethumb and forefinger sections and the adjoining portion therebetween inany desired manner.

It is therefore an important object of the invention to provide abaseball glove with a backstop that absorbs substantial impact energyfrom catching a ball.

It is another object or" the invention to provide a baseball glove witha backstop that absorbs substantial impact energy from catching a balland that grips the ball yet prevents wedging of the ball in thebackstop.

It is another object of the invention to provide a baseball glove with abasket Weave backstop. It is another object of the invention to providea baseball glove with a basket weave backstop for absorbing impactenergy of a ball and gripping the ball on catching.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a baseball glove witha backstop that includes a central ball catching portion having a basketWeave construction and a stress dissipating border portion by which thebackstop is mounted in a glove.

It is still a further object of the invention to provide a baseballglove that includes a backstop with a central portion having a basketweave construction and with a border portion having attachment means ofeither lacing apertures or loops.

These and other objects and advantages of the invention will becomeapparent from the ensuing description and the appended claims taken inconjunction with the draw ings wherein:

FIG. 1 illustrates a portion of the face of a baseball glove with thepreferred basket weave style backstop of the invention;

FIG. 2 illustrates the rear in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 depicts a portion of another baseball glove with another basketweave style backstop of the invention;

FIG. 4 illustrates in a flat pattern the face ply of the basket weavebackstop seen in FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 illustrates in a Hat pattern the rear ply of the basket weavebackstop seen in FIG. 2;

FIG. 6 illustrates the face ply of the backstop seen in FIG. 3;

FIG. 7 illustrates the rear in FIG. 3; and

FIG. 8 illustrates in a sectional view the lacing arrangement for theglove construction shown in FIG. 3, said lacing arrangement beingtypical.

With reference to the drawings, and in particular FIGS. 1, 2, 4, and 5,a baseball glove generally designated by the numeral 1, includes a thumbsection 2 and finger sections 3 and 4 that are formed partly byextensions of palm ply 5, and partly by rear ply material 7. Betweenthumb section 2 and finger section 3, palm ply 5 has a reinforcingextension 6 (see FIG. 2) which is folded back over part of the rear plymaterial 7 of glove 1 and stitched down along stitch line 6n. Thus,extension 6 portion of the glove shown plies of the backstop seen Iforms a reinforcement for palm margin 8 at the crotch 9 between thumbsection 2 and finger section 3. Palm margin 8 has a series of apertures10a, 10b, 10c and 10d that extend through rear ply material 7 andextension 6. The thumb section 2 and finger section 3 of glove 1 have aseries of apertures 11a, 11b, 11c, 11d, 11c, 11 and 11g, and apertures12a, 12b, 12c, 12d, 12e, 12] and 12g, respectively, which are locatedalong margins 13 and 14 respectively of the palm ply portions of thumbsection 2 and finger section 3. Rear ply material 7 has apertures 111athrough 111g corresponding to apertures 11a through 11g, and apertures112a through 112g corresponding to apertures 12a through 12g. Also, thepalm ply portions of finger sections 3 and 4 have additional lacingapertures 15. The rear ply material 7 has an additional lacing aperture16 in the thumb section 2, and additional lacing apertures 17 in thefinger sections 3 and 4.

In the preferred embodiment, backstop 18 is formed from two flat pieces,face ply 19 and rear ply 21 (see FIGS. 4 and 5). Adjoining the outerborders of the sides and bottom edge, face ply 19 has tabs 22 forforming lacing loops 22a (see FIG. 2). Face ply 19 has a top part 23 forforming lacing tunel 23a. Also, top part 23 has a row of lacingapertures 24a and a corresponding row of lacing apertures 24b. In thecentral area of ply 19, the ply has cutouts 26 near the top part andbottom edge. Also, ply 19 is pierced by holes 27 and also by slashes orcuts 28, which with cutouts 26 provide central weaving strips 29extending from side to side of ply 19. The rear ply 21 has cutouts 31 oneach side thereof, as well as being pierced by holes 32 near the bottomedge thereof. A series of slashes or cuts 33 extend from holes 32through the top margin of ply 21 providing weaving strips 34 with freeends to facilitate interweaving with weaving strips 29 of ply 19. Whilethe strips 29 are side to-side and strips 34 are bottom-to-top, it isunderstood that these positions can be interchanged and other directionscan be used if desired.

After the face ply 19 and rear ply 21 have been formed, the backstop 18is made by interweaving the weaving strips 34 of ply 21 with the weavingstrips 29 of ply 19 to achieve a basket weave format as shown in FIGS. 1and 2. The face ply 19and the rear ply 21 are temporarily held in theproper position and stitched together along stitch line a forming astitched border around the ball catching area of the basket weaveformat. Each tab 22 of face ply 19 is folded back on itself and its freeend is positioned to be caught up in stitch line 35b underneath thesides and bottom edges of ply 21 and temporarily stuck in place. The toppart 23 of face ply 19 is folded back over the top edge of ply 21 tocover the free ends of weaving strips 34. The fold is made so that theapertures 24a are in registry with apertures 24b and the top part of ply21 is adjacent the apertures 24a and 24b. The top part 23 is temporarilystuck in place until it can be stitched. The back stop 18 is stitched asecond time along stitch line 35b to secure tabs 22 and top part 23,thus finishing the back stop 18 with lacing loops 22a and lacing tunnel23a ready to be laced to the glove 1.

Backstop 18 is positioned between thumb section 2 and finger section 3with the bottom part adjacent the crotch 9, such that the lowermostlacing loops 22a extend between apertures lltla-1tld, and the side loops22a are adjacent apertures 111a-111g and apertures 112a-112g. Lacingmember 36 has an end 27 and an end 3%. Beginning with lacing end 37, thelacing 36 enters aperture 10b in palm extension 6 at the rear of thecrotch 9 and emerges from aperture 16th at palm margin 8, passes alongmargin 8 and enters aperture 100, and emerges at aperture 100 in palmmargin 6. Lacing 36 then passes through adjacent loop 22a and then intoaperture 111d. It then emerges at aperture 16d in palm margin 8, passesalong margin 8 to the junction with margin 13 and enters aperture 11a.It emerges at aperture 111a and passes through the next adjacent loop22a, before being threaded into aperture 11111. The lacing sequencecontinues through apertures 11g, 111e, adjacent loop 22a, aperture 111d,11d, lle, 111e, adjacent loop 22a, and apertures 111 11f, 11g, 111g. Thelacing 36, emerges at aperture 111g at the rear ply material 7 of thethumb section 2 and passes through lacing tunnel 23a before enteringaperture 112g at the rear ply material 7 of the finger section 3. As thelacing sequence continues, the lacing 36 exits at aperture 12g in margin14, passes along margin 14 and enters aperture 12 exits at aperture 112passes through adjacent loop 22a, enters aperture 112e, exits ataperture 120, passes along margin 14 and enters aperture 12d. As thesequence continues, lacing 36 exits at aperture 112d, passes throughadjacent loop 22a, enters aperture 112a, exits at aperture 12c, passesalong margin 14, enters aperture 12b, exits at aperture 112b, passesthrough adjacent loop 22a and enters aperture 112a. Lacing 36 exits ataperture 12a in margin 14 and passes along margin 14 to the juncturewith margin 8 and then enters aperture 111a, emerges from aperture 16ain palm extension 6 and passes through adjacent loop 22a. The lacing 36enters aperture 10b in palm extension 6 at the rear of crotch 9 andtunnels between palm extension 6 and palm margin 8, internally of crotch9 and then exits from aperture 10c in palm extension 6. The lacing 36terminates with lacing end 38, and lacing ends 37 and 38 are tiedtogether forming knot 39. Hence, it will be appreciated that backstop 18is securely held in place along thumb section 2, finger section 3 andcrotch 9.

Another lacing member 46 ties finger sections 3 and 4 and others (notnecessary to illustrate) together and forms marginal wrapping 4-1 onbackstop 18. Beginning with knotted end 42 (FIG. 2) lacing 4-0 entersaperture 16 and exits at aperture 11g in margin 13, enters lacing tunnel23a and exits at the first aperture 24a in the face ply 19. The lacing41 is spiral wrapped through the remaining apertures 24a and 24b. Thelacing 46 enters the last aperture 24b a second time and exits fromtunnel 23a where it enters aperture 12g in margin 14 and passes acrossthe rear of the finger section 3 and enters aperture 17. Lacingcontinues through a cross pattern (FIG. 1)

4 in apertures 15 and 17 and terminates in a knot at the last fingersection (not shown).

Referring now to FIGS. 3, 6, 7 and 8, another embodiment of theinvention is illustrated. A baseball glove 511 (similar to glove 1)includes a thumb section 51 and finger sections 52 and 53.

Glove 50 has a rear shell 54 forming part of thumb section 51 and fingersections 52 and 53, as well as other finger sections (not shown). A palmply forms another portion of the thumb section 51 and finger section 52,however, only an extension part 56 (see FIG. 6) is necessary to depict.

The rear shell 54 has a series of lacing apertures 57, and the palm plyhas mating apertures 57a (see FIG. 6). Also, rear shell 54 has anaperture 58. Additional apertures are provided for lacing the fingersections 52 and 53 and others together similarly as in glove 1.

In the embodiment with glove 50, another backstop 60 is formed from aface ply 61, rear edge plies 62, weaving strips 63 and weaving strip 64.Face ply 61 has a top part 65 with lacing apertures 66 and lacingapertures 67. Top part 65 is adapted to fold over and form a lacingtunnel 65a within the fold margin above apertures 66 and 67. Ply 61 haspierces 68 along one side and pierces 69 along the other side. Inbetween pairs of pierces 68 and 69 are cuts 71. The cuts 71 divide thecentral area of face ply 61 into weaving strips 72. Also, ply 61 haslacing aperture 73 along the bottom edge. Rear edge plies 62 have lacingapertures 74 and 75, and weaving strips 63 each have a lacing aperture76. Weaving strip 64 does not require a lacing aperture.

After the backstop 60 piece parts have been cut out, weaving strips 63and weaving strip 64 are interwoven with weaving strips 72. The stripsare stuck to face ply 61 with aperture 76 of strips 63 aligned withaperture 73 and with the strip 64 aligned between the inner strips 63.The plies 62 are stuck to face ply 61 so that the apertures 75 registerwith the outermost apertures 73 and with the most distant ends fromapertures 75 adjacent apertures 67 The top part 65 is folded over strips63 and strip 64, and edge plies 62 with apertures 66 in registry withapertures 67. The strips 63 and strip 64 and edge plies 62 are sewn inplace to face ply 61 along stitch line 77 of top part 65 and stitch line78 along edge plies 62, and strips 63 and strip 64. The stitch line 78forms lacing pockets 79a-79j around apertures 74.

Backstop 611 is placed between thumb section 51 and finger section 52,adjacent the margin of shell 54 extending between thumb section 51 andfinger section 52. Lacing member 80 having an end 81 and 82 securesbackstop 60 in position. Beginning with end 81, lacing 80 passes throughaperture 76 of the strip 63 adjacent the right side of strip 64, asviewed in FIG. 3 and through aperture 73 aligned therewith, but notthrough associated apertures 57 and 57a (not shown). The lacing 30passes along face ply 61 and passes through apertures 73 and 76 adjacentthe left side of strip 64 as viewed in FIG. 3, and passes through theaperture 76 of the outer adjacent strip 63; and through aperture 73 andapertures 57 and 57a (not seen) in registry therewith. Then as seen inFIG. 6 beginning at the lower portion the lacing 80 passes along theface margin of palm ply extension 56 into aperture 57a, throughapertures 57, aperture 73 (not seen) and aperture '75 in registrytherewith. Next, lacing 80 passes along ply 62 and into aperture 74 andpocket 79a, through apertures 57 and 57a and along the face margin ofpalm ply extension 56. The lacing sequence continues through aperture57a, aperture 57, pocket 7%, aperture 74; along edge ply 62 throughadjacent aperture 74, pocket 79c and apertures 57 and 57a in registrytherewith; along the face margin of extension 56 through adjacentaperture 57a and aperture 57, pocket 7% and aperture 74 in registrytherewith; along edge ply 62 through adjacent aperture 74 and pocket 79e, aperture 57 and aperture 57a in registry therewith; along the facemargin of extension 56 through aperture 57a, aperture 57 and into tunnel65a. The lacing 80 passes through tunnel 65a over to thumb section 51.Next, lacing 80 passes through the apertures 57 and 57a (not seen) ofthumb section 51, the apertures 73 and the apertures 74, the pockets79f, 79g, 79h, 79i and 79j, aperture 73 in registry therewith, all inthe same sequence as illustrated by FIG. 6. Finally, lacing 80 passesalong the palm ply (not seen) into apertures 57a and 57 (not shown) andthrough aperture 73 and aperture 76 in registry therewith of strip 63adjacent edge ply 78 (as seen to the right in FIG. 3); then intoaperture 76 of adjacent strip 63; then along the margin of the palmpiece between thumb section 51 and finger section 52, through adjacentaperture 57a and 57 (not shown) and through apertures 73 and 76 adjacentthe left side of strip 64 in registry therewith, as viewed in FIG. 3.The ends 81 and 82 of lacing 80 are tied into a knot '83.

Another lacing 85 starts at end 86 (at the left in FIG. 3), which has aknot 86a, and passes through apertures 57 and 57a, adjacent tunnel 65a,then is wrapped around border 87 of backstop 60 passing throughapertures 66 and apertures '67 in registry therewith. The lacing 85enters aperture 66-, at the far right viewed in FIG. 3, a second timeand passes through part of tunnel 65a and into aperture 57a (not shown)tunneling through thumb section 51 and emerging from aperture 58 whereend 88 terminates in a knot 88a.

The disclosed forms of the invention are generally characterized by abackstop having a central area constituted by interwoven strips toprovide a basket weave ball catching portion, and a border of continuousmembers connected to the interwoven strips to receive and absorb theball impact stress and rapidly dissipate such stress. The invention isalso characterized by means for attaching the backstop to the body ofthe glove in such manner as to promote the dissipation of the stresseswithout the need for complicated lacing means.

It will be appreciated that numerous variations of forming the basketweave backstop and lacing the backstop into a baseball glove or mittwill be suggested by the embodiments disclosed herein; however, all suchvariations are deemed tobe within the scope of the invention as definedin the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A baseball glove including spaced apart elongated thumb and fingersections forming a crotch opening outwardly along the length of saidthumb and finger sections, a backstop device located in the crotchopening between said sections, said backstop device comprising aplurality of strips arranged in two groups inter-woven crosswiserelative to each other thereby forming a flexible ball catching area,and means connecting said backstop device to the glove between saidthumb and finger sections.

2. The glove set forth in claim 1 wherein said means connecting saidbackstop strips to the glove includes support means extending betweenthe outer extremities of said thumb and finger sections remote from thecrotch, the adjacent ends of the strips of one group being carried bysaid support means.

3. A baseball glove including a thumb section and a spaced fingersection, a backstop, and lacing means securing said backstop betweensaid thumb section and said finger section, said backstop comprising afirst ply member having a central portion and a border portion includingan upper edge portion, said central portion being provided with firstweaving strips, and a second ply member having a central part and havinga border forming one edge part, said second ply being provided withsecond weaving strips in the central part extending from said one edgeand ending in initially free ends, said first weaving strips beinginterwoven with said second weaving strips and the upper edge of saidborder portion being folded along a fold line and secured with saidupper edge of said border portion lapped over said one edge of saidborder of said second ply.

and then into aperture 75 adjacent pocket 79f and.

4. The glove of claim 3 wherein said upper edge is provided withapertures adjacent said fold line and a lacing member passed throughsaid apertures and over said fold line to form a binding.

5. A baseball glove including a palm ply and a rear shell, said palm plyand said rear shell being secured together to form a thumb section and afinger section spaced apart by an adjoining section, said thumb section,adjoining section and finger section together defining a continuousmargin and having lacing apertures adjacent said margin; a backstoppositioned between said thumb section and said finger section comprisinga first ply having a central portion, a border portion coextensive withsaid continuous margin, and a top portion, said central portion havingfirst weaving strips, said border portion having tabs, and a second plyhaving a central region, a border region coextensive with said borderportion, and top region, said central region having second weavingstrips extending through said top region, said first ply being securedto said second ply with said top portion folded over said top regionforming a lacing tunnel, with said tabs folded under said border regionforming lacing loops mated to said lacing aperture, and with said secondweaving strips interwoven with said. first weaving strips; and lacingmeans passing through said apertures, said lacing loops and said lacingtunnel to secure said backstop between said thumb section and saidfinger section adjacent the continuous margin.

6. A baseball glove including a palm ply and a rear shell, said palm plyand said rear shell being secured to gether to form a thumb section anda finger section spaced apart by an adjoining section, said thumbsection, adjoining section and finger section together defining acontinuous margin and having first lacing apertures adjacent saidmargin; a backstop positioned between said thumb section and said fingersection comprising a first ply having a central portion, a borderportion coextensive with said continuous margin, and a top portion, saidcentral portion having first weaving strips, said border portion havingsecond lacing apertures adjacent said adjoining section; a second plyhaving a central region, a border region coextensive with said borderportion, and a top region, said central region having second weavingstrips extending through said top region, said border region havingthird lacing apertures adjacent said continuous margin, said first plybeing secured to said second ply with said top portion folded over saidtop region forming a lacing tunnel, with said border portion and saidborder region forming lacing pockets for said third aperturesadjacentsaid thumb section and said finger section and having said secondapertures in registry with said third apertures adjacent said adjoiningsection and with said second weaving strips interwoven with said firstweaving strips; and lacing means passing through said first apertures,said lacing pockets and said third aperture in registry therewith, saidsecond apertures and the third aperture in registry therewith, and saidlacing tunnel to secure said backstop between said thumb section andsaid finger section adjacent the continuous margin.

7. In a baseball glove having a body with thumb and first fingersections spaced apart, the improvement of a backstop device disposed inthe body space between the thumb and first finger sections, and meansconnecting said backstop to the thumb and finger sections of the body,said backstop comprising a first ply having a marginal portion and afirst plurality of strips extending outwardly from said marginal portionwith said strips being I parallel and terminating in free ends, a secondply having at least two opposite margins and a second plurality ofstrips extending between and connecting said opposite margins, saidstrips of said first and second plies being woven together to form aflexible interlaced area within said backstop forming a ball catchingand impact absorbing surface in the body.

8. The baseball glove set forth in claim 7 wherein said first ply hassaid marginal portion directed between said thumb and finger sectionsand said first strips extending lengthwise of said thumb and fingersections, and said second ply has said second strips extending crosswiseof said first strips and interwoven therewith to constitute asubstantially closed flexible surface in said backstop.

9. The baseball glove set forth in claim 8 wherein said second ply hastwo other marginal portions connected to said two opposite margins toconstitute a complete margin about said backstop.

8 References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,452,695 11/1948 Sonnett etal. 2-19 5 2,475,262 7/1949 Sonnett et al. 2-19 2,510,218 6/1950Goldsmith et a1. 2--19 3,051,958 9/1962 Latina 2-19 JORDAN FRANKLIN,Primary Examiner.

10 I. R. BOLER, Assistant Examiner.

1. A BASEBALL GLOVE INCLUDING SPACED APART ELONGATED THUMB AND FINGERSECTIONS FORMING A CROTCH OPENING OUTWARDLY ALONG THE LENGTH OF SAIDTHUMB AND FINGER SECTIONS, A BACKSTOP DEVICE LOCATED IN THE CROTCHOPENING BETWEEN SAID SECTIONS, SAID BACKSTOP DEVICE COMPRISING APLURALITY OF STRIPS ARRANGED IN TWO GROUPS INTERWOVEN CROSSWISE RELATIVETO EACH OTHER THEREBY FORMING A FLEXIBLE BALL CATCHING AREA, AND MEANSCONNECTING SAID BACKSTOP DEVICE TO THE GLOVE BETWEEN SAID THUMB ANDFINGER SECTION.